Kosovo Prime Minister “

On one interview for Radio Free Europe (REL), in 2019, as a candidate for prime minister, Kurti had said he was optimistic about talks with the Serb community in Kosovo and that he and Serbs “who are not the means of Belgrade” would build a new internal dialogue project.

On the other hand, a year after the formation of the second government led by Albin Kurti, members of the Serb community told Free Europe Radio that they have been discriminated against on the part of Kosovo's current prime minister.

One of them is Srgjan from Gracanica, this Serb-run municipality in the vicinity of Pristina, which considers that Kosovo's prime minister has done nothing to approach the Serb community in Kosovo and that Serbs for it are “citizens of the third hand”.

But, Friday evening, on March 25th, Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti called on members of the Serb community in Kosovo to believe the most in the Kosovo government” and not be affected by Serbia.

This invitation to Serbs from Kosovo has reached only a few hours after protests were held in Gracanica, near Pristina, as well as in northern Mitrovica, in northern Kosovo, with the slogans “Kurti, destroyed the Brussels agreement, destroyed everything” and “Kurti will not expel Serbs from Kosovo”.

The protests, led by political representatives of the Serbian List, were held against the Kosovo authorities' decision not to allow presidential and parliamentary elections in Kosovo, which have been warned on April 3rd.

The Serbian list is the leading party of Kosovo Serbs, which was formed in 2013 with the support of Belgrade and Serbia's current president, Aleksandar Vuciq.

In a video recorded in the Serbian language, Prime Minister Kurti urged Serbs not to be influenced by the “authoritarian regime in Belgrade, which is not interested in the rights or welfare of Serbs in Kosovo”.

He stressed that his door is always open to those who believe they are being violated.

Radio Free Europe has been addressed to the Government of Kosovo with questions about whether dialogue with Kosovo Serbs will start soon, which Prime Minister Kurti has warned, but until the publication of this text, the answer has not returned.

To Radio Europe Free Radio's question of whether Prime Minister Kurti has attempted to dialogue with the Serb community, the answer has not come from the Serbian List either.

Branimir Stojanovic, one of the founders of the Serbian List and who later left it, considers calling Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti to Serbs to trust his government is “only a marketing trick”.

In the last local elections, Stojanovic was an independent candidate for the mayor of Gracanica.

How can Serb confidence be gained?

As Stojanovic estimates, the fact that Kurti addressed Serbs in their native language means nothing. He emphasises that if Kurti wants their trust, he should return 24 hectares of the Decani Monastery's land and forest, as the Constitutional Court of Kosovo ordered in 2018 or form the Association of Serb majority municipalities, according to the Brussels Agreement.

This would probably be a signal that someone really wants to change the ratio to Serbs in these spaces. Another important thing is representation in institutions, especially representation in public enterprises. It would be good for him (the Kurti) or anyone else to take the liberty of employing Serbs at the Termocentral plant in Obilic”, Stojanovic said.

The Serbian list, as well as Serbian judges and prosecutors, have suspended work in Kosovo institutions until a second announcement, due to the Kosovo Judiciary Council's decision to suspend the chairman of the Constitutional Court in Mitrovica, Lilana Stevanovic, who attended a meeting with Serbian President Aleksandar Vuciq in Belgrade.

Serbian List Deputy Chairman Dillibor Yevtic, in the protest in Gracanica, said that “should stop institutional violence against Serbs”.

Branimir Stojanovic sees this “job implementation” as a symbolic message and does not believe that this will change the practical situation on the ground.

It is clear that the political elite in Pristina is simply using the framework that Serbs do not have what to ask for (in Kosovo) and that they should hope in mercy”, Stojanovic said, adding that even the international community is guilty of the current situation.

Demhaya: It is already late for dialogue with Kosovo Serbs

The director of the non-governmental organisation “; arise”, Arton Demhayan, finds that members of the Serb community in Kosovo do not trust the Government of Kosovo, and as an example of this, mention “the outcome of the Serbian List's” work.

He considers that this political option has made such a decision under Belgrade's direction and that it is quite clear that he does not trust the Government of Kosovo. But, as he adds, ordinary citizens, however, must be separated from Serb political representatives.

Kosovo's “Serbs must be separated from the influence and leadership of the Serbian government, to gain more confidence in the Government of Kosovo, because this is the best possible way to meet the demands of Serbs living in Kosovo”, Demhaya says.

However, he adds, the current Kosovo government has failed when it comes to internal dialogue with members of the Serb community.

The dialogue with Kosovo Serbs has had to start at the beginning of the (mandate of) Government”, Demhaya points out.

Albin Kurti became Kosovo's prime minister for the first time in early February 2020, but his government collapsed in late March at the request of the coalition partner, the Democratic League of Kosovo.

But after a year, Kurti became prime minister again, following early elections, which were held in February of last year. This time he won a convincing victory and formed the coalition-free Government with the main Albanian parties.

Markovik: Serbs received Kurti

Meanwhile, Igor Markovik from the nongovernmental organisation “Assable” from Northern Mitrovica stresses that the Serb community had against Kurti “some kind of positive perception, because it did not belong to the war elite in Kosovo political circles”.

He recalls that Kurti in the election campaign has often spoken of the inner “dialog”, or dialogue with members of the Serb community in Kosovo, but has proved to be only “another political promise”.

He estimates that Kosovo's current prime minister has set up a “account” between his government and Serbs from Kosovo, and that the “fully ignores their” interests.

“We still do not know what Kurti wants to achieve with everything he has done so far”, Markovic says.

He also emphasises that the international community constantly asks the Kurti government “to respect minority rights” and adds that Kosovo's prime minister is doing nothing in this regard.

His “Constantiation in relations with Serbs also applies to his relations with the international community. He (Albin Kurti) simply observed a maneuvering space and used it to the maximum”, Marcovic points out.

Quint countries sharply criticised Kosovo for failing to hold Serbian parliamentary and presidential elections on April 3rd.

Also, in mid-January this year, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken stated in a letter to Prime Minister Albin Kurti that authorities in Kosovo should respect minority communities' rights. / REL